Means for cutting corduroy cloth.



No. 692,504.- Patented Feb. 4, I902.

M. G. CHASE.

MEANS FOR CUTTING CORDUROY CLOTH.

(Application filed. Oct. 14, 1899.)

(No Model.)

WITHEEEEE: INVE JT F A I M. (9M1 2W irnn t rns an @rnicn.

MALCOLM G. CHACE, OF CENTRAL FALLS, RIIODE ISLAND.

MEANS FOR CUTTING CORDUROY CLOTH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,504, dated February4, 1902.

Application filed October 14,1899. serial No. 733,649- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MALCOLM G. OHAOE, a citizen of the United States,residing at 788 Broad street, Central Falls, in the county of Providenceand State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Improvement inMeans for Cutting Corduroy Cloth, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, formingapart of this specification, in explaining its nature.

The races of corduroy cloth are now out separately by means of a sharpcutting knife or blade operated by hand, and thiscalls for very skilledlabor and is'a fine and delicate operation on account of the necessityfor cutting the cloth over the race which forms the pile at its center,there being great liability of the blade being deflected in the cuttingup or down, and thereby either injuring the cloth or making an unevenpile.

In practicing my invention I weave into the races of the cloth by meansof an additional heddle strands of small-gaged wire, preferably one ineach race and as though the wires were warp-threadsthat is, likewarp-threads they will extend lengthwise the finished fabric to anyextent desired, but unlike the warpthreads they will be held in theraces and not woven with the weft-threads. The wires thus woven into thefabric are free to be withdrawn from the races, not being held in themby appreciable friction. These wires, as I have said, may be woventhroughout the length of the cloth, in which case they will feed withthe cloth as it is being made and will be rolled on the cloth-roll andmust possess sufficient ductility to conform to the curve of the roll,or they may be held stationary during the act of weaving the cloth. Thefirst-named way I practice when the cutting is done off the loom andafter the cloth is finished and the second when the cutting is done onthe loom, and I will describe the lat ter method first.

The weaving of the Wires into the cloth is a simple operation whichinvolves the addition to the corduroy-loom of an extra heddle suitablytimed and an extra whip-roll. This is true whether the wires are wovenfor the en tire length of the cloth and therefore movable with it or areheld stationary. At the ends of the stationary Wires, preferably overthe breast-beam, I have arranged a series or line of cloth-cutters, onefor each race, and which cutters are connected with the wires and may bein Whole or part held thereby against the draft of the cloth as it isbeing wound on the cloth-roll, although I prefer that the cutters besupported by a brace which will relieve the wires substantially of saiddraft. The purpose of the wires is to direct and guide the feeding ofeach race to its outter, so that the race shall be properly andaccurately presented to the cutter, for it is upon this accuracy ofpresentation that the value of the invention largely results.

Any suitable type of cutter may be used. It may be a stationary blade orit may be a rotary one, and its edge may be straight or serrated. I haverepresented a rotary cutter with a continuous edge, one for each race.It is mounted upon a shaft to be positively turned by it and is held bya holder or carrier which has a long tapering foot substantially levelon its under side, inclined upon its upper surface, provided with a slotextending from near the back forward, and in which the edge'of thecutter turns. The nose or forward end of the foot extends into the raceand serves to set or govern the position of the cutter by the race ofthe cloth. It will be understood that the cutters and their holders arefree on the shaft to move lengthwise it slightly in order that theyniayautomatically adjust themselves to the races in the cloth, whichsometimes vary in spacing with relation to each other. The end of thefoot which enters the race is preferably tapered on all sides and haspractically a pointed end, and the wire is attached to the end in anydesired way, preferably by means of a loop, as it permits universal playof the point with respect to the wire and also provides a desirableunion between the wire and the point. As it is desirable to changeslightly the direction of the point of the foot in order that it may beas nearly central in the race as possible, I have provided means foradjusting its position up and down, it being understood that the racegoverns its lateral position, and the means which I use for so adjustingthe feet may also be used for supporting the knifeholders against thedraft or pull on the cloth in the cutting, and thus relieve therace-wires from strain.

It will be understood that with the organization I have been describingthe cutters are positively and automatically operated and are heldsubstantially stationary and that the cloth is cut by being drawn by thecloth-roll past the cutters.

I will now describe the invention more in detail in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a view in plan of sufficientparts of the loom to show the application of myinvention to it. Fig. 2is a View principally in vertical section, somewhat enlarged, to furtherillustrate the same. Fig. 3 is a view, enlarged, of one of the cutters,its holder, and a wire attached to it. Fig. 4 is a view upon the dottedline 4: 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents the cloth before the loopsarecut, and Fig. 6 after they are cut. Fig. 7 represents a singleguiding-wire, cutter, and cutter-holder. Fig. 8 is a view representingone method of providing the shaft carrying the cutters andcutter-holders with vertical adjustment.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the cloth-roll of a loom; B, thebreast-beam thereof; ,0 G, the usual harnesses of a corduroy-loom in aconventional way; D, the whip-roll, and E the warp-beam. These are ofthe usual structure of a loom and are operated in the usual manner formaking corduroy cloth. There is mounted upon the loom in addition ameans for weaving the wires A into the races of thecorduroy as the clothis being made and for cutting the cloth. The wire-weaving mechanism isadapted to either weave the wire for the entire length of the piece ofcloth, in which case the cloth-cutters are not mounted on the loom, orit may weave the wire for a short length of cloth only and then becomestationary with respect to the feeding of the wire, and this is the waythe wire-weaving mechanism is used when the cloth is cut in the loom.

There is no diiference 'in the mechanism whether the wires becontinuously fed or started a short distance and then held, and to thusweave the wire the loom is provided with a wire whip-roll F, a wireharness G, and appropriate means for timing its reciprocation to causethe wires to be woven into the races of the cloth. The wires may extendfrom separate wire-holders of any desired kind. They enter the races hof the cloth II at the fell and extend through the races to the points mof the cutter-holders M. The cutter-holders are mounted upon the shaftm, which preferably is arranged above the breast-beam and is supporteduponthe fra'meoftheloominamanner to be vertically adjustable. Anydesirable means maybe used forprovidingthe shaft,cut-

. ters, and holders with the slight vertical adjustment necessary, andIhave represented one means in Fig. 8, where one end of the shaft isrepresented as mounted upon a slide q,which slides in a bracket q, fastto the beam. The

bracket carries the adjusting-screw g which engages a nut (1 carried bythe slide. The end of the shaft not shown is supported by a similarslide adjustable in the same way. It is also positively turned by anysuitable power, taken preferably from the loom. The knifeholder has twoears m m through holes in which the shaft extends, the fit being looseenough to permit a slightlateral movement of the holder, together withthe cutter, in the ad justment of the holder and cutter by the race. Thecutter m is keyed to the shaft between the ears m 'm and is loose enoughon the key to be movable with the knife-holder slightly. Theknife-holder has the long foot m which is level upon its under surfaceexcepting at its end m, where it is drawn into a thin tapering point.The foot also has a slot m, into which the cutting edge of the cutterextends, and the cloth is cut at the intersection of the upper surfaceof the foot and the cutting edge of the cutter at the point 771 I preferto use a cutter with a continuous cutting edge and to also form thecutting edge so that it may not extend below the lower surface of thefoot and cut the base-section of the cloth. This I accomplish byproviding the cutter With the obtuse beveled surfaces m m, whichprovides a section of the cutter wider than the width of the slot m at apoint with respect to the cutting edge m narrower than the depth of theslot, so that the cutting edge is positively held by the upper cornersof the foot at the slot and by its beveled surfaces from extending belowthe lower surface of the foot and injuring the base of the cloth. It isdesirable that cutters having this shape of cutting edge be revolvedvery fast.

The wires are connected with the points of the knife-holders by theloops n, the loop being formed at the end of each wire by turning theend of the wire back upon itself, by soldering, or by electricallybrazing the end to the main length, the wire passing through the smallhole n in the point m.

To adjust the points on of the feet of the holders vertically, I use anadjusting-bar O, which engages the knife-carriers and which isvertically adjustable to' move the knife carriers on the shaftsufficiently to change the Vertical position of the points. Of course itwill be understood that this change in the position of the points is avery slight one; but still I consider it as quite necessary that somemeans be used for so adjusting them.

The engagement between the adjusting-bar and the knife-carriers I haverepresented as provided by means of the horizontal bolts 0.

The adjusting-bar is mounted on the loomframe to be verticallyadjustable thereon by m eans of suitable screws or adjusting devices,and by being moved or adjusted upward or downward it simultaneouslyadjusts the vertical position of the points m. It also serves to holdthe knife-holders and knives against the draft of the cloth-roll A,which is constantly and slowly drawing the cloth against the feet of theknife-holders and the cutters, and thus relieves the race-wires from anyconsiderable strain in the nature of a pulling or drawing action uponthem.

I have represented the knife-holder and the knives as mounted on oneshaft. This brings them closely together and requires the use of thinknife-holders, and it is not necessary to mount them all on one shaft,as they can be arranged in two or three groupsone in ad- Vance of theother-or staggered, as it is sometimes termed.

In operation the race-wires are Woven into the races of the cloth as thecloth is woven, and as the cloth is drawn past the cutters the loopswhich form the races are cut to form the pile or finish required, sothat the cloth as it is wound on the cloth-roll is completed so far asthe cutting of the loops is concerned. WVhen the cutters are notattached to the loom or operated on the loom, the cloth, with the wireswoven into the races, is mounted on a mechanism similar to the loommechanism, with. the exception that it will contain no Weaving devicesand run from a feed-roll to a drawing-roll past the cutters attached tothe wires, or the cutters can be drawn by the Wires aided or not byaccessory drawing or pushing devices, while the cloth may remainstationary.

I do not confine myself to the form of cutter shown and may use astationary one or a reciprocating one or a shearing one in lieu of therotary one shown. As there may be a tendency for the threads not toWeave together uniformly at the fell on account of the introduction ofthe race-Wires and their tendency, because of their stiifness, to liftor lower the cloth at that point, I have mounted upon the loom a throatat the felling-point, which consists of two bars, one above the clothand one below it, separated by a space equal to the thickness of thecloth and attached at their ends to the loom-frame and one of which maybe adjustable with respect to the other. This determines the line of thefell and causes the Wire to conform to the cloth from that line on. Thethroat is lettered P and the cross-bars which form it p p.

The points at of the cutter-holders are not only made adjustable, asabove described, but they are also slightly flexible and to a sufficientdegree conform automatically to the races of the fabric while it isbeing fed to them, while they at the same time bear a permanent relationto the cutting edge of the cutter, so that while they possess somefreedom of adjustment to the races they still serve to guide the fabricto the cutters and without cramping them with respect to each other orthe cutters. The cutters are guarded by their own bevels or shoulders,which extend over the guarding parts of the holder upon one or bothsides and prevent the cutting edge of the cutters from extending belowthe feet, and thus injuring the portion of the fabric which passesbeneath the feet as the races are being cut.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States- 1. A cutting device for cuttingthe loopthreads of corduroy or similar fabric, comprising acutter-holder having a forward-ex tending pointed foot adapted to extendinto the race of the cloth, a slot or recess in the upper surface of thefoot and a rotary cutter mounted in said holder, having a cutting edgeextending into said slot or recess formed by bevels which extend fromthe cutting edge over the foot on each side of the slot or recesswhereby they serve in conjunction with the foot as guards to the cuttingedge of the cutter.

2. In a device for cutting loop-threads of corduroy or similar fabrics,a rotary shaft, cutter-holders mounted on said shaft having aforward-extended pointed foot to enter the race of the cloth and rotarycutters mounted on said shaft.

3. In a device for cutting the loop-threads of corduroy or similarfabrics, a rotary shaft, feet mounted on said shaft, each havingforwardextended pointed ends and cutterguards, and rotary cutters onsaid shaft.

4. In a device for cutting the loop-threads of corduroy or similarfabrics, cutter-holders mounted on a rotary shaft having forwardextendedpointed feet and cutter-guards, the rotary cutters and means foradjusting the cutter-holders.

5. In a device for cutting the loop-threads of corduroy or similarfabrics, cutter-holders mounted on a rotary shaft, havingforwardextended feet and cutter-guards, rotary cutters mounted upon theshaft and means for adjustingthe shaft, cutters and cutter-holdersvertically, simultaneously.

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6. In a device for cutting the loop-threads of corduroy or similarfabrics, a rotary cutter, a cutter-guard, having a forward-extended footto enter the race, the foot being shaped and hung to guide the fabric tothe cutter and the cutter-guard, and the cutterand cutter-guard beingshaped to prevent the cutting edge of the cutter from injuring theportion of the fabric passing beneath the guard.

MALCOLM G. CIIAOE.

